We're Married, After All - Chapter 40
Danel realized he was behaving exactly like the man who should have been in his place—the man who had set him on this path of watching Laurea, Petios Veloce.
Laurea’s spirit had completely broken around the time Danel had just been ordained as a deacon. His focus on his duties outside the monastery had been minimal, and that neglect had dire consequences.
During that time, a major incident occurred with Petios. He had fallen from his horse and severely fractured various parts of the right side of his body. For those who had been waiting for an opportunity to humiliate him, it was the perfect chance.
As soon as Petios was able to rise from his sickbed, a sinister man targeted him, provoking a confrontation. The altercation escalated into a duel challenge, which, instead of Petios, was accepted by Laurea.
Danel only learned about all of this when he visited the Veloce estate for his mother’s birthday—by which point, the last remnants of vitality in Laurea had vanished.
It wasn’t hard to piece together what had happened. Laurea likely didn’t hesitate to raise her spear against the man. She would have achieved victory in a clean, decisive manner, with little room for dispute.
But no one would have recognized it.
Laurea’s victory held no meaning from the start. If Petios had suffered the intended humiliation, or if he had managed to protect his honor himself, the situation might have been different. Instead, neither man involved got what they wanted, and the duel was effectively erased from existence.
It wasn’t just the duel’s result that had been silenced. The man who had wet himself in disgrace during the incident went on to harbor a lifelong grudge against Petios. He completely ignored Laurea, the person who had actually humiliated him, fixating his hatred solely on Petios until his dying day.
Laurea wasn’t just excluded from recognition for her victory—she was excluded even from the events her victory had caused. It was the same as most of Laurea’s accomplishments, which had consistently been dismissed or overlooked.
She likely didn’t dwell too much on that incident. In fact, she may have accepted it as just another part of her reality. Being unacknowledged was nothing new to her.
But… that was precisely why it shouldn’t have ended in such a familiar, predictable way.
After that, Laurea became someone who expected nothing, who was indifferent to everything.
Danel was consumed by rage. At times, he wanted to kill the two men who had left such scars on Laurea, to eliminate them completely. Other times, he thought it might be better to inflict such unbearable, endless suffering upon them that death would feel like a mercy.
It was then he realized, for the first time, that pleading with God would bring no solace or resolution.
So, Danel abandoned himself to his desires. If he could repay them with painful deaths, he would do so. If he had to wait a long time to torment them further, he was prepared to wait as long as necessary.
Even if, in the process, he ended up causing Laurea the same kind of pain.
Danel poured thin soup into Petios’s mouth. Though tools existed to force-feed more substantial food to animals, there would be no need to use them anytime soon. Keeping Petios alive required no more energy than that.
Since the day Petios escaped, Danel had been feeding him only the bare minimum. It had been about a month now—starting from the day after Laurea and Danel arrived at Lamprey Castle.
It was strange, even now, to think about it. Since being confined here, Petios had always been under the influence of drugs. Even on the rare occasions when he regained consciousness, he couldn’t answer Danel’s questions. On days when no hallucinogens were administered, he would faint outright, making conversation impossible.
But that day was different. When Petios woke, he seemed to have some grasp of the situation. He had even managed to escape the ward while the caregiver was absent.
Fortunately, Petios was apprehended three hours later in the hospital corridors. However, during that time, he could have encountered someone. He might have spoken with them, or worse, asked them to pass along a message to someone else.
For instance, to Laurea.
Of course, if he had any sense of shame, he wouldn’t seek help from the bride he had abandoned. But Petios had no such decency. If he did, he wouldn’t have fallen for Danel’s schemes in the first place.
As a result, Danel spent several days closely monitoring Laurea, controlling the flow of information around her. Anticipating her resistance, he felt compelled to keep watch. If the fact that Petios was still alive became known, Danel and Laurea’s marriage would be nullified. Even if Petios never regained his sanity, the outcome would be the same. Danel would be forced to return to the monastery, leaving Laurea alone—again, with Petios by her side.
“And if he regains his sanity…”
Danel’s violet eyes swept over Petios’s gaunt face.
If Petios woke up and testified to what Danel had done, the consequences would be catastrophic. Even if only attempted patricide and treason against the royal family were proven, it would be enough to send Danel to the execution block.
Dying was acceptable to Danel. What he feared more was the erasure of his existence in Laurea’s life. It was a fate even more horrifying than Laurea returning to Petios.
For Danel, the idea of Laurea’s history as his wife being erased, of it becoming as if Laurea had never been tied to Danel Veloce, was utterly unbearable.
